Foreign tourism to Mexico grows 19.6 percent

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's central bank says the country's international tourism grew 19.6 percent in the first six months of 2014, compared to the same period last year.

The Bank of Mexico says in a statement Tuesday that 14.2 million foreigners visited Mexico between January and June and spent $8.4 billion.

International tourism to Mexico declined after drug cartel violence increased. A number of cruise operators dropped port calls and the number of visitors to northern border cities plunged.

The central bank says Mexico's cruise and border tourism have rebounded. Border tourism grew 35.5 percent in the first six months of this year to 6 million visitors and the number of cruise visitors rose 25 percent to 3 million.